Machine for cutting helical teeth or gear-wheels.



Patented July 14, 1914.

4 SHFETS-SHEET 1.

: 2: :q r lrza W. E. SYKES'. MACHINE FOR CUTTING HELIGAL TEETH 0P GEAR WHEELS. APPLICATION FILED JAN 6. 191B- w. E. SYKES.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING HELIOAL TEETH 0F GEAR WHEELS. APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 6. 1912.

' Lw3 851 u, Patented July 14,1914,

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2. Figl.

W. E. SYKES. MACHINE FOR CUTTING HELIGAL TEETH 0F GEAR WHEELS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN 6. 1912.

Patented July 14 1!?14. 4 SHEETS-SHEET a.

S m S a a m W. E. SYKES.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING HELIGAL TEETH OP GEAR WHEELS.

ALEVPLIOATION FILED JAN. 6. 1912. I 1 ,1@3 851 Patented July 14,1914. 4 sums-sum 4.

50 blank j, which represents the work 'tqbe done. A screw and nut, with washer d, on.

WILLIAM EZDWIN' SYKES, OF U'XBRIDGE, ENGLAND.

MACHTNE FOR CUTTING HELICAL TEETH OF GEAR-WHEELS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 14,1914.

Application filed January 6, 1912. Serial No. 669,857.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM EDwIN SYKEs, a subject of the King of the Unlted Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, re siding at 14 the Greenway, UXbr1dge,M1ddlesex, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Cutting Helical Teeth of Gear-VVheels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for cutting single helical or double helical or herring-bone toothed gear wheels, the object being to adopt the molding generating prlnciple of action, well known in connection with machines for cutting ordinary spur wheels, by using cutters of pinion form. The helical teeth are inclined at an angle to each side face of the wheel, instead of being cut at right angles to each face like ordinaryspur wheels. The machine may be used 1 for cutting single helical teeth but is primarily intended for cutting double helical or herring-bone teeth, in which case the cutters maybe arranged to advance and recede simultaneously in their reciprocating motionwhen cutting double helical teeth with a groove in the central part of the face of the Wheel,

. or the cutters may be arranged to advance and recede alternately when cutting continuous teeth, that is, double helical teeth with the right and: left hand portions joined together at the central part ofthe face ofthe wheel; the cutters would also be arranged to advance and recede alternately when cutting double helical teeth having the central ends of each pair of teeth overlapping or staggered as it is termed, I

Figure 1 is a plan of themachine on two sheets, Fig.2 is an end elevation of Fig.1, Fig. 3 is a sideelevation of Fig. 1, and Fig.

4 is a detail of the ratchet feed.

In these drawings 6'; denotes a saddle, on asuitable bed plate a ,Iand b, 12 are bearingsv mounted on the saddle to carry' the revolu:

ble head spindle c; d is an arbor or man-- drel mainl shown by dotted linesyextending from t e spindle c and journaledin the outer bearing 6 The arbor or mandrel. d passes through a distance piece or chuck-c arranged and adapted to carry the wheel the arbor d, serve to tighten up and secure the wheel blank f.

each mounted on a suitable 'spindle to re-' te'rference between the blank 'isavoided on the return stroke, and

volve in a bearing 9 on't-he sliding carriage g a rifled or quick pitch screw spindle 9 being mounted in another bearing, also forming part of the carriage Each screw spindle g has a double helical wheel 9 mounted upon it, gearing into a pinion (indicated by dotted lines) adapted to turn its corresponding right or left hand cutter g, the motion being intermittent by means of each worm wheel 9 mounted in bearings 6 acting -as a nut to its corresponding screw spindle 9 when actuated by the worm shaft 71 and ratchet feed inclosed within the periphery of wheel 72?, connecting rod 71?, and adjustable feed crank pin and crank k on the left side of Fig. 1; the motion being also communicated to the right hand cutter through bevel wheels 27, and 'z' ,ai1d transmission shaft 2' 1 The cutters which work with a shaping or planing action are each formed as a single helical pinion except that the teeth are made are approximately square with the helical path so as-to form efiicient' cutting edges.

The helical angle of the cutter teeth is made to correspond with the angle of the teeth to be cut. Provision is-made to allow the cutters to move slightly away from the work on the return stroke in order to prevent damage to the cutting edges. The bearings 9. wherein the cutter spindles have a, pivotal connection 9* with the bearings g in which the spindles g are journald, --in consequence whereof, the movement of the cutters across the blank will cause the cutters and thereby the teeth to move slightly in an outward direction awayffrom the blank. In this way, in-

cutters and the the'fformer are brought into, position for afresh' cut when the forward movement 'of;the-carriages commences, the cutters be- 'ing automatically restored to operative, ;(z e., cutting) position at the conclusion of their swinging movement in any suitable m'annen; "In the same connection, it may here be-stat'ed that each cutter has two rotarymotions, v1z: an oscillatory or rotary reciprpcatorymotion produced by the reciprocation of the corresponding carriage =9 which causes-the spindle g to turn forward andbackward within the worm-wheel g, and an intermittent rotary movement in one direction produced by the turning of are j ournaled [with relief or clearance and the ends I the said worm-wheel by the worm-shaft h,

teeth.

turning of the screw spindles The bevel wheel 2', on the. shaft it, also interineshes with the wheel 3' to drive through the bevels y' the shaft j, and through the train of change wheels 7.2, the worm shaft 7.: operating the worm 'wheel 70 which turnsthe head spindle 0 andthe wheel blank f in one direction. It will be seen, therefore, that the intermittent feed motion derived from the adjustable feed h h and h istransmitted simultaneously to the cutters g, g, and relatively through the change wheels 70 to the wheel blank f to be cut, and that this combined arrangement of parts may be termed the feed mechanism. The hand wheel v screw andv nut shown in dotted lines, is adapted to move the saddle a on its bed, thus adjusting the saddle for various diameters of wheel banks and also providing means for feeding the blanks against the cutters. I

Motive power is appliedin any known and convenient manner, proved machine to be operated by a driving belt, the driving pulley m transmits its motion through the shaft m revolving in suitable bearings, by the toothed wheels on? and m to the double worm shaft on, and

worm wheels m and m These worm wheels are mounted upon suitable large spindles,

indicated by dotted lines, revoluble in bearings 6 b the spindles also carrying the respective cranks 'n, and 11 with an adjusting screw operating the crank pin and stroke, as indicated by dotted .lines on crank The crank n reciprocates the right hand sliding carriage 9 upon its bed by means of a connecting rod and pin attachment n; and the crank n similarly reciprocates the left hand carriage by a corresponding connecting rod and pin attachment a and these when working simultaneously" from the position as shown inFig'. 1, advance the two sliding carriages 9 toward each other, together with the right and left hand cutters 9, so as to operate in cutting spaced grooves upon the wheel blank 1. During the stroke the cutters g, g are caused to turn by the g in the right and left hand stationary nuts formed in. the worm wheels 9 with the result of a right anddcft hand helical groove being cut on the blank, the cutters then returning by the motion of the cranks n; and n During this return motion of the twosliding carriagesg 9 the wheel blank f is turned-for the feed, the ratchet movement ofthe crank 'h being on the forward stroke, and the cutters Z on the screw shaft P, with its" but assuming the im-- 9, g, inreturning by a straight line movement over the helical path cut on the right and left hand halves of the wheel blank f, are caused. to turn in a corresponding degree bythe turning of the screw spindles 9 in the right and left hand nuts formed by the worm wheels g g and thus made ready for the following cut.

It will be evident scription that the mechanism provided 'for rotating the cutters, g, g, and the wheelblank f, in unison, results in automatically generating or shaping the transverse section of the teeth, while, at thesame time the helical direction of the teeth and spaces from the foregoing deis developed from the right and left hand sides of the blank, to'meet at the apex of the two curves at the center, or approximate central line of width of the wheel blank. In this case the cutters would meet and foul each other, either directly or by the chips from the two cutters. gathering in the center, unless the difficulty is avoided by some means.

One method of clearing the cutters is toturn a groove in the center of the wheel blank face sufliciently wide and deep to avoid the cutters meeting while cutting the spaces between the teeth clear through to the central line;'but the objection to this plan is that it destroys the continuity of the teeth at the apex, and reduces their strength.

Another plan is to drill a small hole at the apex sufficient to clear the cutters and remove the bur or metal that would otherwise be left, in which case the cutters need not advancesimultaneously from each face, a slight difference in time being given between the cutters; Another plan is to cut the, teeth staggering, that is for a tooth starting from one'side to come directly -opposite in the center of a space started from the other side; to do which the cranks n, 0 operating the sliding carriages g 9 with the cutters g, g, are -'so set that their strokes alternate, but otherwise work in the same continuous manner as before, eXcep't that the feed would operate with one cutter on the forward stroke. To enable this to be done, suitable serrated clutch couplings, allowing of fine adjustment, are provided on the connecting shafts, as at 0, on the shaft '5, and

These shafts being cut through at the coupling point, and the nuts which serve to at 0 on the shaft m.

keep the clutch parts in engagement, being slacked back onthread cut on their respective shafts, the other half can be turned around to the desired point of stroke, andagain coupled up for work.

What I claim is the 1. In a machine for-generating and c'utting helical toothed gear wheels, the combination of a bed, means carried thereon-for. axially mounting and turning the wheel blank to be operated on, a second bed, a carriage mounted thereon and adapted to slide in a plane parallel with the face of the wheel blank, a cutter carried by said carriage, means for sliding said carriage, means for imparting a rocking motion to said cutter, and means for driving said Wheel blank and said cutter simultaneously, substantially as described.

2. In a machine for generating and cutting helical toothed gear wheels, the combination of a slidable carriage, two sets of bearings thereon, a revoluble shaft mounted in one set of said bearings, a pinion carried by said shaft, a helical pinion shaped cutter mounted on one end of said shaft, a. screw spindle adapted to revolve in the other set of said bearings, a gear wheel mounted on said spindle and engaging with said pinion, a nut engaging with said spindle, and means for sliding said spindle in said nut, substantially as described.

3. In a machine for generating and cutting helical toothed gear wheels, the combination of a slidable carriage, two sets of bearings thereon, a shaft revolubly mounted in one set of bearings and carrying a helical pinion shaped cutter, a screw spindle revolubly mounted in the other set of bearings, two engaging gear wheels mounted, respectively, on said shaft and said spindle, a nut engaging with and turning the said spindle, gear wheels and cutter during the endwise movement of said spindle with said carriage, and a revoluble crank and crank pin connected with the said slidable carriage, for operating the same, substantially as described.

4. Ina machine for generatingand cutting helical toothed gear wheels, the combination of a slidable carriage, bearings carried there- 'by, a rotatable shaft and a screw spindle adapted to turn in said bearings, gear connections between said shaft and spindle for imparting rotary motion from the latter ,to the former, a disk cutter in the form of a single helical pinion mounted on said shaft, a feeding mechanism adapted to actuate said cutter, and revoluble crank operatively connected with said carriage to impart a reciprocatory movement thereto, substantially as described.

5. In a machine for generating and cutting helical toothed gear wheels, the combination of means for rotatably mounting a wheel blank on its axis, means for moving said wheel blank at right angles to its axis, a carriage, a rotatable helical. pinion shaped cutter mounted on said carriage, means for sliding said carriage to and fro and simultaneously rocking said'cutter on its axis, and a feeding mechanism adapted to act upon said cutter, substantially as described.

6. In a machine for generating and cutting helical toothedgear wheels, the combination of means for mounting and turning a wheel blank on its axis, a'carriage and means for sliding it-to and fro in a plane parallel with said axis, a cutter formed like a single helical pinion rotatably mounted on said carriage, means for rocking the said cutter 7. In a machine for generating and cutting double helical or herring-bone'toothed gear wheels, the combination of a bed, means carried thereon for axially mounting and turning the wheel blank to be operated on, a second bed arranged lengthwise in a plane parallel with said axis, two carriages mounted on said bed, apinion shaped cutter carried by each carriage, means for reciprocating said carriages, means for imparting a rocking motion to said cutters, and means for driving said wheel blank and said cutters simultaneously, substantially as described.

, 8. In a machine for generating and cutting double helical or herring-bone toothed gear wheels, the combination of means for mounting and turning a wheel blank on its axis,'a bed arranged lengthwise in a plane parallel with said axis, two carriages mounted on said bed, means for imparting a reciprocatory movement to said carriages, a cutter formed as a single helical pinion mounted in each of said carriages, means adapted to impart an intermittent feed motion to said cutters, and means for' adjusting the relative positions of said cutters with respect to each other and to the work being done, substantially as described.

9. In a machine for generating and cutting double helical or herring-bone toothed gear wheels, the combination of means for mounting and turning a wheel blank on its axis, a bed arranged lengthwise in a plane parallel withsaid axis, two carriages mounted on said bed, a cutter formedas a' single helicalv pinion' mounted in each carriage, means adapted to turn both said cutters in their carriages, and a crank operatively connected to each carriage for causing the same to slide to and fro upon said bed in front of the pe'riphe y of said wheel blank, substantially as described.

10. In a machine for generating and-cutting double helical or herring-bone toothed gear wheels, the combination of means for mounting and turning a wheel blank on its axis, a bed arranged lengthwise in a plane, parallel with said axis, two carriages mounted on said bed, a cutter formed as asingle helical pinion mounted in each carriage,

means adapted to axially turn each of said cutters in its carriage, a crank operatively a same to slide to and fro upon said bed in front of the periphery of said wheel blank,

and means for regulating or adjusting the relative positions of the cutters with relation to the work, substantially as described.

11. In a machine for generating and cutting doublehelical or herring-bone toothed gear wheels, the combination of means for mounting and turning a wheel blank on its axis, a bed arranged lengthwise in a plane parallel with said axis, two carriages mounted on said bed, means for impartinga reciprocatory movement to said carriages, a cutter formed as a single helical pinion mounted in each of said carriages, means adapted to impart an intermittent feed motion to said outters, means for adjusting the relative positions of said cutters with respect to each other and to the work being done, and means for throwing'one cutter and its supporting carriage out of operation, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM EDWIN SYKES. Witnesses:

JOSEPH SINCLAIR FAIRFAX, HENRY JOHN BROOKWELL. 

